“Trust But Verify”…Reagan…It’s Your Responsibility Buyer’s Agent!!

As a buyer’s agent, it’s your responsibility to investigate and verify the information that’s being provided in MLS by the listing agent.  Buyer agents cannot assume that information submitted by listing agents is accurate. 

One of the most common mistakes is the number of bedrooms that are listed.  If a property does not have public sewer, the approved septic design will dictate the number of bedrooms that a home can legal provide, regardless of the space available.

Buyer agents need to verify by retrieving a copy of the septic design from the board of health; investigating the rules of the town; and provide this information to the buyer.  This information should be shared with the listing agent, but we are not our sister’s keeper. 

A buyer’s agent can’t police every error in MLS, but a buyer’s agent must provide the correct information to her buyer if a property is of interest and advise accordingly. 

The appraiser should be researching the property at the town office, but we can’t assume that all appraisers do their job properly.  The only protection a buyer’s agent can depend on is the information found by her/him after personally investigating.  It’s your job to make sure that all information provided to MLS is accurate.  Don’t rely on the listing….that information is as good as the listing agent who represents the property!!